In Which I Am Confined
by Singstar Master
Summary: Naruto is vulnerable… Kyuubi is ready to strike.


It is wrong to fight with your nature; that is an essential fact that should be recognized first and foremost

It is wrong to fight with your nature; that is an essential fact that should be recognized first and foremost. Your nature is not just a string of impulses, but also a way of life.

Now, it is in my nature to accomplish many deeds in which, if I where something else with a _different_ nature, I may have no desire whatsoever to carry out.

The fact is, however, that I am myself and dreaming of changing is as much of a waste as actually trying to change. Thus I did the things that were in _my_ _nature_ and thus _expected_ of me. I eradicated countless victims or beings I felt needed to be assassinated, I seduced and slept with countless more for reasons that still have me perplexed, I stole and tricked to get by, and so many more things of that kind. But among these things (which some may deem horrible) there is one almost honorable characteristic I hold, and that is my ability to always keep a promise no matter what the effort into keeping it may be.

This is why I have not put forth too much of a struggle.

This is why I have let myself rock back and forth between knowing who and where I am and not even recalling what I was.

This is why I have waited.

Now, _Master Uzumaki Naruto_, it is high time we conversed a bit about this arrangement. I may have given you some of my characteristics and you may have had some of my nature pushed on you, this is true. But I'll show you what it really means to be a fox demon.

**In Which I Am Confined**

**Chapter 1: In Which a Chain Reaction Begins**

**Insert an entertaining yet informative disclaimer stating the fact that I do not own Naruto or anything Naruto related here.**

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"Naruto, thank you so much! Thank you! Just… I mean… I always thought that you were just an idiot with no future at the academy, but then I got to know you and you're one of the best friends I could ever ask for. No one ever did anything like this for me and I'll never forget it… I… Naruto?"

There was an odd, hazy look in Naruto's eyes as they wavered in the direction of a random spot of ground over Haruno Sakura's left shoulder. When she stopped talking, his eyes roved back to her face for a split second. During that split second, Naruto felt heated and had to look back at the ground. He smiled a bit. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I'm just… keep going."

Sakura didn't notice her friend's disconnection and gladly continued. "You are amazing, Naruto, and you will make a great Hokage some day soon."

"Here, here," Uchiha Sasuke agreed with his own half smile. Everyone else in the room smiled and laughed in unison and went on about how much Naruto had come along through stories and just from watching him. This party was a big thank you to him for bringing Sasuke back. Naruto was still unsure of exactly how he did it since he was doing his best to block out anything at the moment, but he knew it was rigorous enough to give him aches and pains that he was having trouble healing up.

Sakura gave Naruto a squeeze before making her way back over to Sasuke and swinging her arm around his neck to get his attention. She got it, and he leaned down –

Naruto squirmed where he stood and looked out the window, only to see that the reflection caught the small gesture of love and intimacy that he wished to have with Sakura. His eyes narrowed at the pair as they conversed with all the people that gathered around them. He felt a strong, indescribable shot of pain in his stomach and head that kept coming and going almost like tides. He didn't like to watch them; it made him feel… unlike himself. He would start off feeling regret for bringing Sasuke back which would some how magnify and build to him hating everyone in the room.

He looked around to see if anyone was watching him or coming over to him before darting to one of the open front windows of Sakura's house. He breathed easy once he was outside the house and was prepared to make his way home until he caught large, white eyes staring avidly at him with wonder. He looked over and figured that it would be stupid to just leave her standing here without so much as a small greeting. He gave her his signature grin and said, "Hey there, Hinata! Whacha doing out here all by yourself?"

She didn't answer, just blushed. _"She'll always be weird…" _Naruto concluded to himself. Then she looked at him with puzzlement. "Are you… leaving, Naruto?"

He felt as if a spotlight had been forced on him and his entire plan to get home without alerting anyone had fallen threw. Not knowing what to do he just gave a nervous laugh. "Now what makes you think that? Why would I want to go home?"

She didn't seem to hear him and just looked down at the ground. Naruto noticed that she wore the same expression he did just moments ago and he tried to pay close attention to what she was saying. "It's alright. I won't tell anyone."

He blinked. _"Okay, I lost her." _"Huh?"

She gained some confidence in herself and looked up, but seeing his dumbfounded face gave her chills and she went back to looking anywhere else. "Well, you see, ummm… I've had tons of parties thrown for me and for most of them, I ji-just wanted to be anywhere else. I'm guessing that's how you feel, too."

"Heh, wow Hinata, that's really great of you, but I don't want you to lie to anyone for me."

She shook her head quickly and fiercely. "No! I wasn't trying to imply that I-I'm a liar or anything, I'm just saying that I wa-wouldn't go out of my way to tell everyone you left is all."

She gulped nervously. Naruto smirked. "Do whatever you want, Hinata."

Her blush made strawberries look pale and she just nodded and said goodbye before breaking the door down and slamming it shut. He laughed. _"Yep, no doubt about it – she's weird and crazy. But she's nice, too." _He smiled. Yeah, Hyuuga Hinata was always kind to him. He just wished that he could talk to the chick for more than three seconds without her blushing, fainting, or running off. He shrugged and started his walk to his apartment that he had known since his memory functioned properly. It wasn't big, it wasn't clean, and it certainly wasn't perfect, but it was his safe haven. It was a place he could go and hide and regroup for his entire life. It was always there for him.

Once it was in sight he did a sprint over to it and raced up the steps, rounding on his room, got inside and flew to his bed so he had something soft to collapse onto. He was beginning to go to sleep when images of Sasuke and Sakura emerged once more to the forefront of his thoughts. He growled and rolled to his side to look up out of his window.

"_I should be happy, not angry. Two of my closet friends are happy and in love and if I don't stop being so mad they'll cut me out. So I be-" _

His mind went blank and rewound to his thoughts of them 'cutting him out.' Would they really do that to him if he voiced his feelings to them? Would things change? How could they? Why? Didn't Sakura know how he felt about her? Did she honestly think he would stop caring for her if he brought Sasuke back to her like he promised? And here he thought she was beginning to have feelings for him… what a joke.

"Heh…"

Naruto bolted upright and let his eyes whirl around the room. "Hello? Anyone there?" Silence answered him. He laid back down, figuring he had just imagined the laugh that had filled his room.

"Master Naruto…"

Said boy had once more stood upright. This time, though, instead of being greeted by his furniture and décor, the moonlight was shining passed him and onto a long, tanned foot in a glistening silver flat shoe. Naruto whipped a kunai he had on him at his light switch and a split second later the room was full of light and what had spoken to him was now in plain sight.

It was a guy about his age… well, that's what Naruto thought at first glance anyway. The guy had tan skin with the silver shoes, though his long, thin white pants covered them up when he stood. He wore a white coat that unraveled to the floor and covered his hands. He wore a silver shirt under his coat and though the outfit was plain it reeked of high-class. What took Naruto back the most was his odd features. He had bright almost _too_ red a shade of hair that swept to his lower back and bangs that hung loosely above his equally red eyes. His nose was slightly upturned and his facial features seemed hard and unchanging. He didn't have common ears but instead long, pointed fox-like ears that twitched around every so often. Naruto arched an eyebrow and flipped on his panic switch. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

The man laughed and took a step closer. "Why, _Master Naruto_, how could you possibly ask me such a question when I have been with you my whole life?"

Naruto arched a brow, losing his rage to confusion. "Wait, so you lived in my apartment with me my entire life?"

He looked outside with the same stoic expression. "That's not quite what I meant …"

Naruto scrunched his face up. He was usually slow on the uptake, so he thought to himself a while before his eyes went wide. "You're not… you can't be… the Kyuubi!" He smirked and Naruto grinded his teeth. "But how? When?"

The Kyuubi returned to his original look and refrained from rolling his eyes. "Do not assume things you have no valid justification to believe."

Naruto calmed down a bit. "So, you're not, uh, _outside of me_?"

The Kyuubi sighed. "To answer what you should already have concluded: no, I am not."

Not trusting him, Naruto flicked his shirts off and powered up his charka. Once he saw the seal mark appear on his stomach, he powered down and sat back on his bed. "So, am I just imagining you then? Are you fake?"

"No I am not _fake_." The Kyuubi shook with rage but relaxed so that Naruto couldn't see how he felt. "I am real, though I am just real to you. That is, you are the only one who may see and hear me. Technically you are imagining me seeing how I am supposed to be a mere image of your psyche whenever you previously conversed with me, but I have been trapped long enough to grow restless enough to teach myself how to manipulate your mind and now – here I am."

Naruto sat still, and then he got up and walked toward the Kyubbi. He paused, then stuck his hand out and sighed with relief once more as his hand slipped through the demon in front of him as if he weren't there. "So you're just an illusion, eh? What's it going to take to get you back where you belong?"

The Kyuubi took a step back and swiped Naruto's hand away, even though he only passed through it. "Where I belong? Do you know where I truly belong? I have no knowledge of where I am meant to be, but I do know that it is not inside of you. _Naruto_, you twerp, are so ignorant and helpless, you fit the stereotype designed for your species so _well_. Tell me what you have done to deserve me and my power to be bent at your whim? You have been given me… I am essentially your slave… and you have not even proved that you deserve me or my gifts that I have earned."

He spoke so calmly and coolly Naruto just had to get mad and get some emotion out into the stiff atmosphere. "I DON'T GO AROUND KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE LIKE YOU! YOU'RE A MONSTER! You're right – I did nothing to get you. I didn't ask for you either, you Demon Bastard, so shut up and get outta my mind!"

He tilted his head. "Does my logic bother you?"

"YES!Ah, NO! Just get lost! And stop talking to me as if we were… uh… _friends_."

Kyuubi smiled to himself. "Well, what's wrong with that? We should be the best of, shouldn't we? Who knows you better than I? And who better than I to help you cope with the sudden loss of your love interest?"

"SHUT UP! I don't want your advice! I'll get over it!"

"Hmm… I could help you, you know…"

Naruto laughed into his hands. "Oh really? Lemme guess – you're idea of helping me is a huge plan to go and kill my best friend? Yeah, not interested."

Kyuubi took small steps toward the blonde and sat beside him, moving uncomfortably against the plush material he could only wish to feel. "That was not what I was thinking, actually. You see, I see your life through a different perspective seeing how I have lived far more than you and I have a far better understanding of all the trivial things that perplex you. For example, the female you desire, Haruno Sakura, is not out of reach but making her yours is too much trouble for you. If you crave companionship, work on the Hyuuga Hinata girl that fancies you so much."

Naruto turned over and looked up at the Kyuubi with wide eyes. "Why are you doing this to me? What do you want?"

The Kyuubi looked at the ceiling. "I am attempting to make amends is all, Master."

The ninja huffed and snuggled into his sheets. "Well you're not getting anywhere. I know what you are and you can't trick me into trusting you, so go screw yourself and leave me alone!"

Kyuubi swung over and placed his face so close to Naruto's that his nose had disappeared inside Naruto's. "I can never really leave you, Master Naruto. You and I are one in the deepest of ways."

With that the demon vanished and the lights went off. Naruto threw his blanket over him. "Ewe… he said that weird…" A part way back in the corners of Naruto's mind told him to think this through and take this as a threat, but he just couldn't. It was all just really awkward and surreal. Besides, maybe he just dreamed it or something. He did have a rough night.

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I have started.

I will finish it.

I will not be the one to fall.

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**A/N**: _Creepy!! So this was kinda confusing, but don't worry! It clears up a bit as chapters go on… and on… and on… and on some more… but that's only if you do that magical thing called reviewing. Nice trade off, ne?_


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